Nancy Pancheshan is shown along Matchettte Road in Windsor, Ont., in this file photo. She is the leader of Save Ojibway — a group that is concerned about the environmental impact of a big box development in the area.Dan Janisse / Windsor Star

Members of a group challenging plans for a big box development on land adjacent to the former Windsor Raceway are hoping an Ontario Municipal Board ruling in the next couple of weeks doesn’t end their fight.

The board is expected to decide on a motion by the developer to reject evidence critical to the case of the group, which wants the property returned to nature to become part of Ojibway Park.

For the past eight years, the Coco Group has been seeking to construct a commercial development at the intersection of Matchette Road and Sprucewood Avenue, but opposition by area residents and concerns about endangered species found on the property have stalled the project.

A two-week OMB hearing is scheduled to begin on Aug. 24.

In advance, lawyers for Coco filed a motion attempting to stop any evidence about traffic impacts and threats to species on the site from being submitted at the hearing. The company believes those issues were addressed when it was given an Endangered Species Act permit for the big box development by the Ministry of Natural Resources last year.

As well, Coco’s lawyers are arguing that the residents fighting the project should pay the company’s legal costs for the OMB process.

The OMB heard the arguments for both sides on June 22. A ruling is anticipated within the next week or two, said Nancy Pancheshan, leader of the Save Ojibway group.

“It is a very anxious time,” she said. “I’m not sure what will happen.”

The residents’ group has been encouraged to keep fighting after collecting more than 7,000 signatures on a petition this spring. It calls for a halt to the big box project and the naturalizing of the 37-acre site, which sits next door and across the street from protected Ojibway Park lands.

“There is hope,” Pancheshan said. “It’s coming down to the final straw and we believe the public is a huge part of this case. If the community is loud and vocal, there is a far better chance to protect Ojibway.”

The company has attempted to address some of the concerns raised by Save Ojibway. Last September it agreed to provide 10 acres at the north end of the development site for a natural habitat buffer between the big box project and the Ojibway Park lands.

The Coco Group first received approval for the commercial project from Windsor city council in 2007. At the time, council considered it less intrusive than allowing the construction of 500 to 800 homes on the land, which was permitted under the previous zoning.

“At the time, the raceway was still there,” he said. “There was no option other than: do you want big box or residential? It was presented to us that residential would cause more damage (to nearby Ojibway lands).

“Now we can look at the bigger picture and say what a marvelous piece of environmental heritage this could be if we could connect this with all the other natural spaces in the area and maybe make this a provincial or federal park.”

“I’m praying for a miracle,” he said. “Hopefully, either the OMB will rule against this or somebody can step in and say, ‘This land is too valuable to let go to big box.’ It is worth protecting.”

Pancheshan is also concerned about what the OMB rulings on the Coco proposal could mean for the fate of the 95-acre raceway property, which is still owned by the Toldo group of companies.

The former raceway grandstand is being demolished, but Windsor Raceway Inc. president Pat Soulliere told The Star recently there are no plans for the site and it is not for sale. The property is currently zoned for future residential development.

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